Punishment for the Black Wizard
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: "If he needs to be punished, then Fairy Tail will be the one to handle the punishment."


Fairy Tail Oneshot

Punishment of the Black Wizard

Angst/Friendship

Zeref, Natsu, Mavis

"If he needs to be punished, then Fairy Tail will be the one to handle the punishment."

(Too busy chasing after little Frosch to say I don't own Fairy Tail.)

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><p>Punishment of the Black Wizard<p>

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><p>Zeref's entire world had grown to be nothing more than a blur of words and misty pictures. His body was slowly going numb, a side-effect of losing his immortality as well as the bone-chilling rain. His teeth were gnashing against themselves as shivers wracked his body.<p>

Boney fingers reached up and grabbed hold of the sleeves of his wet clothing. "I'm...," he thought, his voice having failed him long ago, "I'm so cold... Is this...death?"

His body continued to shiver as he allowed himself the gift of looking at his saviors one more time.

He could barely see Natsu, who was standing right in front of him. The woman behind Natsu, who's golden hair was limp from the rain, was almost impossible to see.

"N-Natsu," he began, his fingers losing their grip on his clothes. "M-Mavis..." His entire body went limp as the world finally went dark. "Arigato...gonzaimasu..."

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><p>There was no light where he went.<p>

For Zeref, such a thing was what he pictured a blessing to be.

He didn't want any more light. Not after he'd been bathed in it, both as flame and as Fairy Law. Any more light would have been too much for his tainted body.

So he had no light.

Only the sound of thunder.

And a warmth that enveloped his hand.

"...er...ef..."

The world of darkness soon became a world of twilight. Not enough to be considered light, but too bright to be thought of as shadow.

The thunder clapped again.

"...oi...Zeref."

He slowly forced his eyes to open, allowing his world to liven up just a little bit. Colors began to form near the corners of his vision, something he found strangely comforting.

Gold.

Pink.

Deep jade.

Forest green.

Ebony.

White.

Flaming orange.

"EH! Natsu! Don't do that! You'll kill him!"

"I'm just tryin' to wake him up!"

Zeref's head started pounding in sync with those words. With a grunt, he raised a hand to his forehead...

Only to learn that it had been bandaged.

"Huh?"

He opened his eyes the rest of the way, allowing him to see what was happening around him.

Zeref was in a small hut of sorts, with Lucy holding Natsu's flaming fist away from the bed Zeref was sleeping in.

And Mavis was holding Zeref's icy hand.

"Ah," breathed Mavis happily, "you're awake, Zeref."

"Huh?" went both Lucy and Natsu alike.

"Mavis...?" Zeref asked slowly.

"Hey! You're awake!" Natsu exclaimed, racing over to the other side of Zeref's bed. "It's about time! I thought for sure that you were about to kick the bucket!"

Zeref didn't utter a word as Natsu spoke. Rather, he pressed his gelid hand up against his head, hoping to soothe the pounding in his skull.

"Mo, Natsu," Mavis said firmly, "you have to be quiet. Zeref is still hurt."

In response to this, Natsu covered his mouth and silenced himself. It was such an amusing scene, Zeref would have chuckled if he had both the will and the strength.

But he had neither. His will to laugh had faded almost 400 years ago and his strength had yet to return to him. Part of him hoped it never would.

"Are you feeling any better, Zeref?" Natsu asked in a whisper.

Zeref simply let out a breath. It was the closest he could possibly get to a laugh.

"Where am I..., Natsu?" Zeref asked.

Natsu grinned. "With Fairy Tail," he announced.

"Fairy...Tail?"

Natsu nodded.

Zeref froze for a moment before trying to force himself up. Fortunately, Mavis was fully prepared for his movements and pressed her hand against his chest, forcing him back down into the bed. "Don't worry," she said. "You're not in any trouble and you're not going to get Fairy Tail involved in any either."

There, Zeref could do little more than stare at the blond-haired girl looking down at him.

"Well, you **are** in a little trouble," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head. "Just not in the kind of trouble we're usually in."

Zeref stared.

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><p>(Earlier)<p>

_Natsu lifted Zeref from the ground, adjusting his grip to make the Black Wizard as comfortable as possible. "C'mon," he said. "Let's get him to Granny Porlyusica or something."_

_"__What are you doing?" Doranbolt asked, slightly upset and clearly not afraid to show it. "That man is the reason this whole mess started."_

_"__He may have been the one who started this whole mess," Natsu admitted, "but we can't just let him die. Besides that, if we leave him like this, First Master might get upset."_

_Mavis looked down at her hands with an awkward expression._

_"__But even if he __**didn't**__ intend this, that doesn't justify what he's done in the past," Doranbolt said firmly. "He needs to be punished for what he's done."_

_There, Natsu gave Doranbolt the fiercest of glares. _

_"__If he needs to be punished," he said, "then Fairy Tail will be the one to handle it."_

_Doranbolt could only back away slightly, caught completely off-guard by his tone of voice. _

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><p>When the story had ended, Zeref fell further back into his pillow. "Well, you <strong>did<strong> cause this world a lot of trouble," Mavis said. "And then there was your declaration of destroying all of humanity."

"I understand," Zeref admitted. "I'll accept whatever punishment you and your guild gives me." He was almost too quick to add, "Even death, if you feel I deserve it."

"Now don't start that again," Natsu said firmly.

"Yeah, I think we've heard enough of the whole death thing," Lucy admitted with a light chuckle.

"That's right," Mavis agreed with a nod. "You've spent the last 400 years, wandering the Earth like a living corpse." A bright smile formed on her face as she revealed to him the back of the hand she was holding.

A white Fairy Tail symbol.

Zeref's eyes widened slightly.

"So as soon as you've recovered, you'll make up for your crimes by working as a Fairy Tail wizard."

Zeref froze the entire time Mavis spoke. "A...Fairy Tail...wizard?"

Mavis nodded. "Yep. Fairy Tail shall be the punishment for the Black Wizard, Zeref as well as the door for Zeref, the legal wizard." Her smile increased. "Okay, Zeref?"

The dark wizard remained still. Then he smiled a little bit and closed his eyes. "Alright," he said softly. "Thank you...Mavis."

A few moments later, he fell asleep, his hand going limp in Mavis' own.

Mavis smiled a little bit at that. "Get some rest...Zeref," she said, adjusting the blankets on his bed. "Tomorrow will be a new day."

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><p><strong>D.T.B: Hehehe. Don't flame, please. Reviews would be appreciated though.<strong>


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